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A REAL Education in History
One of the Best eMail's...EVER! | Unknown

Posted on 10/31/2013 10:07:26 AM PDT by harpu

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1 posted on 10/31/2013 10:07:26 AM PDT by harpu
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To: harpu

Loved it—and certainly didn’t know most of it!

Thanks!


2 posted on 10/31/2013 10:31:27 AM PDT by basil (2ASisters.org)
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To: harpu

A ‘pot to piss in’ is also known as a commode. The saying that you ‘don’t have a pot to piss in and a window to throw it out’ refers to how people would pee in their commodes and then throw it out their windows - typically at night.

This also led to the chivalrous tradition of men walking closest to buildings when walking with a lady. The intent was that if someone threw out their toilet waste into the street it would land on the man and not the lady.

Mr. Megan owns the pewter commode, wash basin, and matching pitcher with a very nice cabinet that has been in his family for generations. Thus I’ve heard about this a few times.


3 posted on 10/31/2013 10:32:05 AM PDT by MeganC (Support Matt Bevin to oust Mitch McConnell! https://mattbevin.com/)
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To: 2nd amendment mama

Ping to increase your knowledge—LOL!


4 posted on 10/31/2013 10:32:07 AM PDT by basil (2ASisters.org)
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To: harpu

During the battle of Escargot, back in the eleventyhundreds, a French Commander of a catapult unit saw that he was out of boulders to use as ammunition. Looking around, he quickly realized that chickens were of the right size and weight to use as ammunition for the catapults. He loaded a chicken and let fly. It worked fabulously! The problem was that the other chickens had seen the first hen take to the air, and they didn’t want anything to do with becoming feathery shrapnel. They all ran away. So, the French realized that the only way to catch the chickens was to nab them while they were snoozing. Snoozy chickens made the best ammunition. This is how we got that famous old phrase, “Let sleeping chickens fly!”


5 posted on 10/31/2013 10:39:52 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: MeganC

Tradition in America has been that men walk on the street side to prevent the woman from getting “splashed” by mud from the horses and wagons that rode by.


6 posted on 10/31/2013 10:45:14 AM PDT by capt B
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To: harpu

Super!

Check this out:

http://pascalbonenfant.com/


7 posted on 10/31/2013 10:49:29 AM PDT by SMARTY ("The test of every religious, political, or educational system is the man that it forms." H. Amiel)
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To: basil
Loved it—and certainly didn’t know most of it!

Which is a good thing, because most of it, if not all of it, is false.

Threshold etymology dates further back than the English word we use today. And the "thresh" they were talking about meant "to trod upon". Basically a threshold was a boundary, not something to hold something in/out.

Throwing out the baby with the bath water originated in Germany as a way of saying don't throw out the good with the bad.

Dirt Poor originated in the US in the early 1900s, and simply meant really poor. Not that they had dirt floors.

Piss-poor originated during WWII in the US, as well. It meant really bad.

Tomatoes were brought to Europe from Mexico by early Spanish explorers. They were known to be edible, and were consumed by the French and Spanish, but some thought them poisonous because they were related to nightshade, and contained minor amounts of poisonous Tomatine (mostly in the leaves and green tomatoes), not because they reacted with pewter. Most folks probably ate from wooden plates/bowls anyway. Usually not enough to kill you.

Saved by the bell originated with boxing in the late 1800s.

Dead Ringer is defined as a look-alike or exact duplicate, and nowhere except here is defined as someone who rang a bell on a safety coffin.

8 posted on 10/31/2013 10:50:36 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: capt B

And the men protected their women. Now it is the women who protect the metrosexual males [I don’t refer to them as men]. We haven’t hit bottom yet, but we are rapidly headed in that direction.


9 posted on 10/31/2013 10:51:10 AM PDT by sport
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To: MeganC
The saying that you ‘don’t have a pot to piss in and a window to throw it out’ refers to how people would pee in their commodes and then throw it out their windows - typically at night.

Reminds me of an old joke;

The proprietor of a local British pub lived above his establishment with his wife.
One night, a lout was banging on the door of the pub shouting, "Open up! I must 'ave me 'alf 'n' 'alf!"
The racket woke the pubman so he leaned out the bedroom window on the second floor and informed the lout that they were closed and he was waking up the house.
"But I've got to 'ave me 'alf 'n' 'alf!"
"But we're CLOSED!" insisted the pub owner. Still the noise maker would not relent.
The owner said, "'Old on..I've just the thing." and left the window and came back moments later with his commode.
He unceremoniously dumped its contents down on the head of the troublesome drunk and shouted, "There! That's 'alf mine and 'alf me Old Lady's!"

10 posted on 10/31/2013 10:51:45 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (So Obama "inherited" a mess? Firemen "inherit" messes too. Ever see one put gasoline on it?)
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To: harpu
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

This is still the case in Hong Kong. If you want a burial plot, especially on Hong Kong island, you can lease a space for 7 years. I remember walking by one during a hike, and seeing disinterred bones set out in the sun to dry. Creepy.

11 posted on 10/31/2013 10:52:16 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: harpu

Then there’s this one that I heard years ago....don’t know if it’s true, but here goes....

The term “cat house,” i.e., a house of prostitution.....

In the early mining towns during the California Gold Rush and elsewhere in the American West, there was a problem with mice and rats in these early mining communities. The miners had one or more cats in their homes to catch the rodents.

When the miners left their homes for a period of time to go prospecting in the hills, they brought their cats to the local whore house and the ladies of the night would look after the felines for a small fee while the miners were away. Hence the term, “cat house.”

Also, the term “bull market” and “bear market.” The miners would entertain themselves by staging fights between bulls and bears.

A bull would fight by thrusting its horns upwards, hence a “bull market” when the stock market is going up.....

A bear would fight on it’s hind legs and thrust it’s paws downward, which would be a “bear” market or a down market.


12 posted on 10/31/2013 10:57:35 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (The Second Amendment makes all the other amendments possible)
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To: IYAS9YAS

Agreed-the threshold and tomato references gave it away, if nothing else did-and while thatch usually did not have a solid sub-roof to rest on, houses did have wooden roof trusses spaced as closely as one could afford-they were needed to bridge/tie the walls in the top corners, and keep the thatch from falling in, never mind the cats.

Thatch was/is at least partially bundled and/or tied before it goes on a roof-otherwise it would just fall in or blow away-it certainly wouldn’t keep out any rain or snow. But it was an entertaining and imaginative article...


13 posted on 10/31/2013 11:11:17 AM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: harpu

BTTT


14 posted on 10/31/2013 11:12:15 AM PDT by mabarker1 (Please, Somebody Impeach the kenyan!!!!)
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To: Texan5
Thatch was/is at least partially bundled and/or tied before it goes on a roof-otherwise it would just fall in or blow away-it certainly wouldn’t keep out any rain or snow. But it was an entertaining and imaginative article...

And thresh is/was a verb, not a noun. Thatch could be made from the threshed straw once the wheat was separated from it, but it was also made from other grasses and vegetable matter, as well.

15 posted on 10/31/2013 11:25:17 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

My contractor compadre has an instructional CD on thatching a roof that he got from a friend stationed in the UK-it is really interesting to watch how it is done. The longer stuff-like reeds, tall grasses, etc is apparently easier to work with in the bundling process-they were tying the stuff up pretty tight with heavy twine before attaching it to the roof trusses.


16 posted on 10/31/2013 11:46:10 AM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5
My contractor compadre has an instructional CD on thatching a roof that he got from a friend stationed in the UK-it is really interesting to watch how it is done. The longer stuff-like reeds, tall grasses, etc is apparently easier to work with in the bundling process-they were tying the stuff up pretty tight with heavy twine before attaching it to the roof trusses.

I've seen a documentary on it. It's really quite interesting, and when done right, good protection from rain/snow and good insulation.

17 posted on 10/31/2013 11:53:04 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

As usual, there are many differing opinions—and I find all interesting.......

Thanks for adding this to the discussion.


18 posted on 10/31/2013 12:02:49 PM PDT by basil (2ASisters.org)
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To: harpu

Some of these are wrong. A “thresh hold” was a board placed on a threshing floor to contain the valuable grain. And “saved by the bell” describes a boxer who is nearly knocked out but who gets a reprieve because the round ends (at the sound of the judges’ bell).

Colorful stories though ...


19 posted on 10/31/2013 12:16:38 PM PDT by IronJack (=)
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To: harpu

Then there was the snake, Mrs. Pott, who did not have a pit to hiss in.


20 posted on 10/31/2013 1:13:01 PM PDT by Nea Wood (When life gets too hard to stand, kneel.)
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